


Look Up To You

by frogfarm



Category: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV)
Genre: Community: femslash_kink, F/F, Post-Episode: s07e22 Chosen, Praise Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-03
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:07:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22095367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogfarm/pseuds/frogfarm
Summary: Willow didn't realize a single word held this much power.Post-"Chosen". Willow POV.
Relationships: Faith Lehane/Willow Rosenberg
Comments: 2
Kudos: 36
Collections: The Annual Femslash Kink Meme 2019





	Look Up To You

As far as she can tell, it starts when they're out on a job. Because that's how Willow thinks of it now, most days. She's certainly never made the mistake of calling it a career. And it's undeniably of the good that the formerly apocalyptic has toned down to a manageable level since the explosion of Slayers across the globe. Not so good that her passion with Kennedy had likewise cooled to the point where formal separation was quick, painless and very much mutual. Faith had just returned from her latest sojourn, this time overseas, and Buffy basically just threw the two of them together. Or so it seemed.

The result is that the two of them are a newly minted pair of agents, out in the field. And Faith, to her credit and Willow's surprise, has refrained from making too many lewd comments at the most embarrassing possible moments.

That's how it begins, at least in the out and obvious sense. Because Faith's not really paying attention to her partner beyond the necessary, which isn't much as she herself is down in the boiler room of the old paper mill fending off a passel of Lothkarrian true believers. Who are rather better armed than her, the latest in a long line of her new swords having just been reduced to slag in the sacrificial pool of acid. Faith narrowly avoids taking a dip herself, turns her fall into a flip and comes down in a tight roll right along the edge of the tank. Which Willow only sees because she's pulled out the Eye of Younowatto, as she calls it -- illuminates her field of vision, reveals the true nature of things and basically functions as a camera networks in the heat of battle. And she's primarily focused on not screwing up the incantation she's performing, which is nothing more than a real-time reversal of the one coming from the mouth of the increasingly frustrated Lothkarrian sorceror. Who is so completely around the bend by the time Willow finishes neutralizing his ritual that he can't even pull off a decent kamikaze, tripping over his robes and landing flat on his face a good twenty feet away from the newly opened crack in the basement floor. Smoke billows forth with the sound of a million damned souls denied release, Willow conjures a vortex to swirl it all away, and the hostages are appropriately grateful. And that's that. Except that Willow nods to Faith and says: "Nice."

She meant the flip and roll, obviously. But a bunch of other things as well. Which is why it's less of a surprise when they go back to the hotel and Faith raises no objection to her using the shower first, then comes into the bathroom while she's actually in it. Not something the Slayer makes a habit of normally. So Willow is returning the favor and pretending to be casual as she hears the sink turn on a moment, then off. She imagines Faith leaning on the counter, staring into the mirror.

"We need more shampoo?"

"Um." Willow takes a quick survey of her supply. "Doesn't look like it."

Faith sounds somewhat distracted. "Conditioner?" 

"Hey, if you're looking for an excuse to go out, I wouldn't say no to a cheap plate of convenience store nachos." Falling back on old instincts, Willow often finds herself making light of the situation. Either that or making references no one gets.

"We've been teamed a little over a year, right?"

"Basically." She doesn't have to think on it. What throws her is the next loop.

"In all that time, have I ever sexually harassed you in the workplace?"

"What?" Willow nearly chokes on a water droplet. She wipes the soap from her eyes and squints at the shower curtain. She can just make out the shadow of Faith sitting on the floor, her back to the wall.

"I just know my rep." Faith doesn't even sound like she's bragging. "So in all that time -- have I ever made you uncomfortable?"

"Yuh." Willow blurts out the rhetorical confirmation before realizing how it must sound. "I mean -- less than I would have expected."

"Huh." Faith does not sound overly surprised. "Like when?"

"You really want a list?" Willow stands there, arms over her chest, wondering when to turn the water off. The lack of response from Faith makes her think she might have said something wrong. Same as it ever was.

"Like -- every time you get into an argument with someone?" Willow tries not to make it sounds like an apology. "I've never been very good at dealing with conflict."

"Really." There's a pause, and what sounds like a little snort of amusement. "What about this?"

Before Willow can think to stop it, the shower curtain is pulled completely aside. Faith is still wearing the sleeveless white top, but the jeans are gone. Her bikini briefs, Willow notes, are patterned in camo.

Her eyes rise to find Faith staring back into them. Like there's nowhere else to look; as if she were fully clothed.

Willow tries not to swallow, then does it anyway. "Are you going to be good?"

"Not even close." And Faith is stepping into the shower with her, drawing the curtain back around them, pulling her naked and trembling body in against the Slayer's own. Faith sinks to her knees, holding Willow by the hips and gazing up into her eyes.

"Tell me I'm pretty."

"What?" Willow finds herself taken aback, not by the words themselves so much as the tone. "Why? I mean, you're like -- you always --"

"Tell me --" Faith buries her face in the softness of Willow's tummy, her voice muffled. "Tell me what a good job I'm doing."

"I --" Willow falls silent.

For too long the water runs, until it begins to lose heat. Willow reaches out and shuts it off.

From below her, Faith whispers. "Tell me I'm good."

Willow kneels. Takes the Slayer in her arms, and holds her close.

"No."

**Author's Note:**

> You might have thought that with my One True Pairing on the line, this would have come out smuttier. But once again, this is how the fates would have it. Don't worry; of the remaining three for this year, at least one promises to stand and deliver the goods with a heaping helping of gusto.


End file.
